After reading the article below from South Africa's "The Mercury", I can't imagine myself purchasing a product or services from any of FIFA's sponsors for the 2010 World Cup for the foreseeable future.

When they were building the new Wembley Stadium some toilets had been installed which had the manufacturer's name on them which was a breach of the contract so they had to rip them out and put unbranded ones in. I think some electrical cabling also had to be replaced due to a brand name showing where it shouldn't.

Perhaps next time someone goes to Wembley they can check the urinals to see if this could really be true.

So basically a one-sided article from a reporter who clearly doesn't like the sponsorship thing.

Frankly I get a bit sick of it all really. It may not be as 'organic' as some people would like, but it pays for the tournament. You can't fairly ask the sponsors to pay the money they pay if you're going to let various other companies slip in 'accidentally'.

It becomes an issue when fans are made to change their normal behaviour or attire when that is often held up as part of their "quirky nature".

I've been to big games with Ireland where fans were not allowed in wearing their Guinness hats which are hugely popular among our support. And rightly so - think Ireland and the first product that comes to mind is Guinness. It caused a right old hoo-hah with large numbers who are in the main a placid bunch.

Will the Dutch masses be turned away because their orange attire happens to be someone else's corporate image?

There are widely recognized laws that provide reasonable protection to property rights, including intellectual property and goodwill.

As part of the process of awarding tournaments, FIFA (and the IOC) have had the domestic laws of the countries concerned changed to afford themselves far greater protection, at the expense of the personal freedoms of the general population.

"The manufacturer of a keyring holder was taken to court because it bore the year "2010", a vuvuzela and the South African flag."

Of course, some companies will try it on because of the subsequent publicity. Bavaria, the brewers of an insipid and unpleasant beer, get more publicity from the gear being banned than they do from it being worn - and the Netherlands supporters still wear orange to matches. Meanwhile, I bet a court case against the airline declaring itself to be the "unofficial carriers of you-know-what" do well out of publicity for the court case. It is unlikely that they were fined millions of pounds - more likely the worst case would have been to be forced to withdraw the adverts. Indeed, the artlicle does not mention if the courts supported some of the bans.

In 2002, for matches played in Korea, you were not allowed to take cans and bottles into the stadiums. More a security than a branding issue. But the organisers realised that people would want to take drinks in, and allowed them to decant their drinks into paper cups, (with lids). These were conveniently decorated with the brand name of a sponsor.

One of the things the sponsor had paid for was the exclusive right to sell merchandise within the stadium areas.

At least the sponsor who manufactured film and cameras did not ask to check the manufacturer of the camera I had with me, or of the film in the camera.

In 2002, for matches played in Korea, you were not allowed to take cans and bottles into the stadiums. More a security than a branding issue. But the organisers realised that people would want to take drinks in, and allowed them to decant their drinks into paper cups, (with lids). These were conveniently decorated with the brand name of a sponsor.

It's the same at Wembley although they've not yet cottoned onto the idea of putting brand names onto the plastic cups..............but give them time!

This kind of thing has happened to my good self before. At the 2007 Cricket World Cup, I wore a Grimsby top to the England v New Zealand match in St. Lucia. As it had (very small I have to say) Coca-Cola League badges on it on either arm, I was told I had to turn it inside out! If you ask me, that is ridiculous! So after turning it inside out, as soon as I got in I reversed it! "You can't wear that in here, it's a Pepsi zone."